


Oops

by zenlikestowrite



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: High School AU, Jae's flustered lol, Let's save this tag hunter, M/M, Music Student ParkBros, Sungjin's chillin, fluffy(?), i'm still horrible at tagging, park bros
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-01-15 05:24:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18492256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zenlikestowrite/pseuds/zenlikestowrite
Summary: Jae's been crushing on Sungjin since the first day of music class - it was one of those admire-from-afar crushes, but it seems the universe isn't satisfied with the distance Jae's been keeping.Or Park Bros getting together 'cause they're cute like that :]





	1. accidents, fate or whatever the hell this is

**Author's Note:**

> hunter and i gotta save this tag. 
> 
> hi hello, my name is zen! :] thank you for reading, please comment any thoughts, i'd love to know! ^_^  
> twitter / instagram / YT: zenkrcovers

"Oh, he's here," Wonpil informs and Jae's eyes practically light up,

"He is?!"

"Calm down, Jae, he's always here." Brian says, rolling his eyes and Jae turns to the door of the music room, and sure enough, he's walking in and goes to his usual spot with Dowoon and Junhyeok.

"He looks so cute in that sweater,"

"You say that about everything he wears over or under his uniform."

"You're right. It's not clothes, it's him," and Wonpil pretends to gag,

"You know, maybe we would be supportive if you actually tried talking to him instead of acting so creepy from across the room,"

"I don't care about your guys' support," Jae points out,

"Plus, we're mutuals on Instagram so that's enough for me."

"Creep." Brian says,

"Do you guys even interact?"

"He likes my posts," and Wonpil throws his head back with laughter,

"Congrats," he says, patting Jae on the shoulder.

"Just say hi one day, I'm sure it's not that hard, watch,"

"Bri, if you fucking-"

"Sungjin!" and Jae immediately wants to slam his face repeatedly into his guitar, so he just tries to hide. The boy turns around and looks at their trio,

"Kang Bra, what?" and Jae lets himself take a peek, surprised at the familiarity. 

"Hi," Brian says and Sungjin laughs lightly before rolling his eyes,

"You're annoying," he comments with a smile that makes Jae's heart swell and they make eye contact. Jae freezes as Sungjin just shows him a friendly smile, eyes lingering just for a bit before he turns back around, resuming conversation with Dowoon who was telling the 2 a story.

"See?" Brian says and Jae smacks him, Wonpil snorting at the sound of harsh contact,

"Ow!"

"You're friends with him?" Jae asks in a whisper, almost amazed and Brian laughs,

"Yeah, 'cause he's chill and approachable. You'd know if you tried,"

"I'm content with admiring from afar. You know, like in art galleries that have those rope borders?"

"Yeah, except there's no borders and he's a human being?" he counters and Jae waves it off, glad their teacher walks in when he does because he no better argument against Brian.

Jae's been crushing on Sungjin since he walked into instrumental music - which was an elective he's glad he took because he gets to see Sungjin perform sometimes, gets to hear his voice a lot, and sees him everyday. But he's never been one to pursue feelings, even ones as trivial as "damn, he's cute",  even platonic interest wasn't something he'd go after. He only became friends with Wonpil and Brian because they annoyed him into it. Rather effective method, Jae admits, because now he considers them his best friends.

Jae's scrolling through Instagram that night when he sees that Sungjin has posted a series of selfies from one of the practice rooms at school. 

**jaepark: Y'AALLLL**

**jaepark: Sent sungjinlol's post**

**jaepark: tf he so FINE for?**

**brikang: might as well name the gc to 'hype sungjin chat'**

**wonpillie: bet**

**wonpillie named the group chat 'jae's whipped for sungjin'**

**jaepark: smh so extra**

**brikang: no denial though???**

**jaepark: LOOK AT HIM THOUGH LIKE**

**jaepark: he could punch me and i would say thank you**

**brikang: you weird bro**

**brikang: thats like... borderline BDSM**

**jaepark: ok no**

**jaepark: YOU made it weird**

**wonpillie: you made this gc weird**

**wonpillie: if we scroll up its a majority of sungjin's posts that You for SOME REASON feel the need to send**

**brikang: LOL pil's mad**

**wonpillie: i just wanted wholesome memes but NO**

**wonpillie: I JUST GET SUNGJIN SPAMS BUT JAE'S A LIL WUSS AND WON'T EVEN SAY HI**

**brikang: PFFFTTT**

**jaepark: damn you Angry angry**

**wonpillie: no lol i'm just hungry**

**jaepark: ok but my statement still stands**

**wonpillie: we know, you say this all the time**

**brikang: i bet he'd knock you out**

**jaepark: yeah probably**

**wonpillie: yeah i heard he takes boxing**

**jaepark: OH WHEW**

**jaepark: that's hot**

**jaepark: wait how do you know? ARE YOU FRIENDS WITH HIM TOO?**

**wonpillie: kinda**

**wonpillie: indirectly through dowoon**

**brikang: i think everyone's friends with sungjin except the loser who foams at the mouth on sight**

**jaepark: he's too cute for me to make contact**

**brikang: WHAT**

**brikang: i don't get why you can't just say hi-**

**brikang: fine keep admiring from afar and you'll never get him.**

**jaepark: omg don't jinx me like that you ass**

**wonpillie: YOU'RE JINXING YOURSELF WITH YO BITCH ASS**

**brikang: wonpil, are you okay?**

**brikang: do you need to talk about it?**

**jaepark: yeah yo he's Mad today**

**brikang: is it cause dowoon ditched you today**

**wonpillie: maybe it's just because jae's been sreaming about sungjin for the past few weeks**

**brikang: lemme feed you, you're so irritable rn LOL**

**wonpillie: can you actually get me mcdonalds please**

**brikang: yeh yeh**

It was true though - it became habit for Jae to rave over Sungjin to Wonpil and Brian, and he could see how it would get annoying. But that never stopped him.

 

The next day, Jae's walking outside the school, headphones in and eyes on the notes he took the previous night. He's trying to make sure he's got the chemistry review down for second period, closing his eyes in intervals to test his memory. 

Bad idea to have 2 senses not focused on his surroundings because he walks straight into a rather intense fight that escalates to the point of fists being thrown. The yells are loud enough to get through his music, but it's too late before one guy dodges and Jae looks up to see someone's fist quickly approaching the middle of his face before a sharp pain and then its black. 

 

Jae wakes up in the infirmary, face sore and sight blurry but that's due to his lack of glasses. He blinks a couple of times before he processes the person beside him.

"Oh," Sungjin says,

"You're awake," and his small smile makes Jae pause.

"Jaehyung, right? From music?" 

"Yeah," he replies, sitting up,

"Jae's fine. Sungjin, yeah?" as if he doesn't know and Sungjin nods,

"Look, I am _so_ so sorry about this morning," and Jae squints, recalling this morning and he realizes.

_Holy fuck. He really did._

"I-I didn't even see you behind him and when he dodged, you looked up and-"

"You punched me." Jae interrupts and Sungjin nods, slow, eyes and expression apologetic and face way too close for Jae's heart to beat steady.

"Yeah. I'm so sorry. Is your nose okay?" and Jae pokes it,

"Doesn't feel broken," and Sungjin cracks a smile. 

"It was bleeding so I just kinda... shoved that tissue up there," and Jae suddenly feels embarrassed. Wonderful, his crush shoved tissue up his nose, how attractive.

"Thanks," he says, not knowing where to go from here.

"Your glasses aren't broken, thankfully," Sungjin says, grabbing them from the side table and handing them to him and he slips them on. 

"I'm really sorry, Jae." 

"It's okay, I'm okay now," he says with a smile that makes Sungjin smile too.

"Oh shit," Jae whispers, looking at the time,

"My chem test-"

"It's okay, Mr. Kwon knows what happened,"

"Oh... You know my teacher?"

"Uh no, It was on the binder you were holding," Sungjin informs with light laughter and Jae wants to smack himself in the face.

_Duh, dumbass._

"You punch hard," Jae comments awkwardly, and Sungjin scratches his nape, chuckling as if he's embarrassed and Jae finds that adorable.

"Yeah. Sorry, it wasn't meant to land on you," 

"I'd hope so, haven't even talked to you and you already dislike me enough to punch me?" and feels a bit proud when Sungjin laughs.

"Nah, it was meant for the asshole that ducked. I swear I would've stopped if I could've," he says, repeating,

"I'm really sorry, Jae,"

"It's okay, it was an accident... Plus, you got me out of that chem test," he says, and Sungjin laughs again,

"You seemed ready though, your notes were so organized."

"On paper. I didn't absorb any of that information."

"I felt that." and they laugh, settling into silence that is surprisingly comfortable.

Brian was right, Sungjin is pretty easy to talk to and Jae almost scolds himself for not initiating conversation sooner.

"Have you been here the whole time?"

"Oh, yeah. After I told your chem teacher what happened, I stayed and wanted to make sure you woke up."

"They didn't punish you for participating in a fist fight?"

"You think our school cares that much?" he counters and Jae laughs,

"True,"

"Oh..." Sungjin says, looking down at Jae's uniform and Jae follows his line of sight, seeing some blood.

"Shit, sorry,"

"Don't apologize, it's my blood, not yours," he jokes,

"That started running 'cause I couldn't retract a punch," Sungjin says, and gets up from his chair and starts unbuttoning his uniform. Even if he has a black tee under, Jae still internally freaks at the way Sungjin removes the shirt, giving it to him,

"I have an extra one in my locker, so use this for now, I swear it's clean," and Jae wants to reject it, tell Sungjin he may have a stain stick in his bag, but he accepts it anyway, with a shy and thankful nod. Jae removes his uniform, thankful he wore a shirt underneath and slips Sungjin's on. It's bigger than his own, even though he's taller, and it has a faint smell of cologne.

"Our school may not care about fights but we gotta stay in uniform," Sungjin comments, rolling his eyes and Jae laughs. 

Sungjin looks at the clock,

"You woke up in time for music, if you're up for going?"

"Yeah, I probably should," Jae says, swinging his feet off the bed and Sungjin grabs his arm to steady him and Jae tenses at the contact.

"Are you okay to walk?"

"Y-Yeah!" he replies, tripping over his words like he will over his feet if Sungjin holds his arm the whole way to class.

"You sure?"

"Yup! You punched my face, not my legs," he says accompanied by awkward laughter and Sungjin nods,

"True," 

"Lemme hold your bag, then," Sungjin says, grabbing it before Jae can and swinging it over his shoulder while he carried his own,

"I can take it-"

"Your first impression of me is the asshole who punched you, let me try and make it up to you, yeah?" he cuts off, a dashing smile that Jae wants to make sure is kept on his face. If only Sungjin knew Jae's first impression of him was a boy with a wonderful voice and handsome face to pair.

"Oh, wait, Jae," Sungjin says and Jae turns,

"Hm?"

"Your nose," he replies, poking his own,

"Oh right!" and Jae quickly goes to the restroom to dispose of the bloody tissue and he just gets more embarrassed thinking of Sungjin sticking that up his nose. 

They're in no rush to get to music, Jae wanting to savour this time despite being extremely awkward, so they just walk in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes.

"Does it hurt?"

"Not too bad," Jae assures,

"I'll probably bruise though," 

"Yeah, I think you're already starting. Damn, I'm really so-"

"Sungjin, you've said that like 5 times already," he says with a laugh,

"I know, but I feel so bad!"

Maybe if Jae wasn't a coward, he could've replied with "make it up to me with a date sometime?" but instead he just says,

"But I'm alive! And my glasses didn't crack!" and Sungjin nods at the fact, a small smile on his face.

They stop by Sungjin's locker and Sungjin slips on a uniform, places their bags on the ground and when Jae motions to take his bag back, Sungjin raises his leg and threatens to kick him.

"Isn't this just bullying at this point?" Jae jokes and Sungjin laughs as he leaves the uniform unbuttoned, taking their bags,

"Maybe. Or friendly teasing? Fine line between the 2," he says and they get to music shortly after.

They enter the room,

"Oh! Parks." their music teacher, Mr. Lee says once they walk in. Jae catches eye of Brian and Wonpil and the 2 already have amused grins on their faces,

"Glad you guys decided to join us."

"Sorry sir, we-"

"I heard. Smooth, Sungjin," he teases as their music teacher has always been chill with the class. 

"We're starting the duets, but everyone has a partner so... Lookin' forward to what you boys perform!" 

They look at each other,

"You probably don't wanna be with the guy who punched you, right? Sorry," Sungjin says and goes to talk to the teacher, and Jae looks to Brian and Wonpil who are motioning for him to do something, 

"Sir, actually, I think Jae-"

"I'm just wondering what songs are taken, just so there's no overlapping," Jae says, jogging to cut off Sungjin,

"No one chose anything for sure yet," he answers and Jae nods.

He looks at Sungjin who looks almost confused,

"Let's discuss songs, shall we?" he says and Sungjin cracks a smile,

"After you, partner," he jokes along and Jae's glad he walks first because he's blushing a bit.

 

**brikang: so jae, did you?**

**jaepark: ???**

**brikang: say thank you when you woke up LMAO**

**wonpillie: HE REALLY KNOCKED YOU OUT LOOL**

**jaepark: i-**

**jaepark: i can't believe. this is how we talk for the first time.**

**brikang: good you talked**

**brikang: AND HE'S YOUR DUO PARTNEERRRR**

**jaepark: I KNOW I'M SO AHHHHHH**

**jaepark: y'all i really dont think im gonna survive this assignment**

**jaepark: I GOTTA PRACTICE WITH HIM**

**wonpillie: goals**

**brikang: wow should've paired with dowoon then.**

**wonpillie: you would've been alone**

**brikang: I COULD'VE PAIRED WITH CHAN**

**wonpillie: oh yeah...**

**wonpillie: you think we can switch?**

**brikang: i hate you**

**wonpillie: jae can you speak something into existence for me??**

**brikang: oh yeah same**

**jaepark: wait lemme do one more for me**

**jaepark: sungjin could ask me on a date and i'd say for the love of Jesus up above, yes.**

**brikang: PFFT**

**wonpillie: nah bri don't laugh**

**wonpillie: we laughed last night and this morning, jae gets punched and sungjin carries him to the infirmary**

**jaepark: PAUSE**

**jaepark: PAUSEPAUSEPAUSE**

**jaepark: HE CARRIED ME?!!?**

**brikang: yeah ??? bro**

**brikang: the fuck?**

**brikang: you think you just sleepwalked there?**

**wonpillie: LMAO**

**jaepark: LOL SHUT UP**

**jaepark: omg he carried me.**

**jaepark: wait, how do y'all know**

**brikang: we weren't that far behind you**

**wonpillie: we were yelling for you but your music mustve been loud cause next thing we know**

**wonpillie: you drop**

**brikang: LOL IT WAS LIKE A NOODLE GOT INSTANTLY COOKED AND JUST LET ITSELF GO**

**jaepark: YOU GUYS DIDN'T EVEN ASK HOW I WAS WHEN YOU SAW ME**

**brikang: you came back with sungjin, we already knew you were giddy**

**wonpillie: and you didn't look like you had been crying so**

**wonpillie: everything was gucci**

**jaepark: wow.**

**jaepark: y'all are mean**

**brikang: fine**

**brikang: jae, how are you?**

**wonpillie: does it hurt, are you okay?**

**jaepark: FUCKIN OVER THE MOOOOOON :D**

**jaepark: SUNGJIN'S MY DUET PARTNER MWUAHAH**

**wonpillie: maybe this could've happened without you having to be punched in the face**

**wonpillie: but jae = coward so**

**jaepark: mehmehmeh i still ended up with my crush as my duet partner**

**brikang: and a black eye LOL**

**wonpillie: and bloody nose**

**jaepark: ok are you guys supportive or not**

**brikang: "i dont care about your guys' support" - jae, yesterday.**

**wonpillie: wow that's heartbreaking**

**jaepark: LOL i hate you both**

 

The school day has yet to start and Jae's at his locker,

"Jae!" Sungjin calls out and Jae turns with a shy smile already on his face when Sungjin winces upon making eye contact,

"Holy shit, that bruise..." he says and Jae immediately brings his hands up to cover it,

"I know! It's so bad, I didn't realize it would get this bad," he sulks and Sungjin laughs before correcting his expression, remembering he's the one that caused it.

"I'm sorry. Did your parents say anything?"

"I told them I got a basketball to the face in gym," he informs with a wink he didn't mean to happen but it does and Sungjin smiles at it. 

"Did you need to tell me anything?" Jae asks,

"Hm? No, just saw you and thought I'd say good morning,"

"But you didn't," Jae points out and Sungjin replies,

"Oh... Yeah, you're right... I got distracted by your black eye." and they laugh,

"Well, good morning to you too then," Jae says and Sungjin laughs,

"Are you taking that chem test today?"

"Yeah,"

"Good luck," he wishes with a sincere smile that makes Jae's cheeks go pink and Sungjin notices it but isn't too sure.

"I gotta get changed for gym, so I'll see you at music!"

"Yeah, thank you!" 

It's only when Sungjin's already down the hall that Jae realizes he forgot to give back his uniform. He checks his phone and figures he could probably catch Sungjin before first period starts, so he decides why not. It's funny, it seems Sungjin's puched has knocked some vague sense of confidence into Jae.

He goes through the hall leading to the change rooms and doesn't know if he should just walk in or if he should wait. Thankfully, he doesn't contemplate any further when Sungjin comes out in the gym uniform and Jae nearly stutters. It's nothing new, he knows their schools uniform, he's seen multiple people in it, Hell, he owns one. But there's something about seeing Sungjin in black shorts and a tee shirt made his heart pick up speed - just slightly. 

"Oh, Jae," Sungjin says, surprised,

"Hey, sorry, I forgot to give this to you," Jae says, handing him the uniform he borrowed yesterday,

"Oh? Left that at your boyfriend's house?" a voice says as Sungjin accepts the shirt and Jae gets flustered and scared - wondering if that's the boy Sungjin was punching yesterday. 

"Shut up, Jaebum," Sungjin says laughing, turning to smack the other guy on the head and his assumed friend laughs.

"Thanks,"

"No, thank you," Jae says,

"I-I washed it, just to let you know," stuttering because he knows he's lame for reacting at that joke from Jaebum.

"Cool cool, thank you." and they just stand there. Sungjin leaning on the wall and not motioning to leave to put his shirt away and Jae just looking as if absorbing the lovely image. Sungjin thinks Jae looks cute with his binder in his hands and lips in a tiny smile, it's adorable.

"So-"

"I'm gonna go to class now, I'll see you in music!"

"Oh, okay. Thanks for returning this!" 

"Yup!" is all Jae says, already halfway down the hall and he doesn't look back to see Sungjin watch him leave and turn the corner with a smile, laughing to himself quietly before going back into the changeroom to put his shirt away.

Jae's looking forward to music because Mr. Lee's letting them practice on their duos for the next few days which means time with Sungjin. He's excited and anxious, bouncing his leg as he checks the door in intervals and eventually cracks a smile when Sungjin walks through the door. He gives Jae an amused smile, for a reason Jae doesn't know, before he goes to his usual seat.

They split up around the class, out in the stairwell and various practice rooms to work on their duos. Jae and Sungjin manage to get one of the practice rooms, and they're going through their phones looking for music with their guitars in their laps. Jae looks past his phone at Sungjin who looks cute, slightly cross eyed as he scrolls through his music that Jae wants to know about. But for some reason, his brain, mouth and voice work collectively to betray him as he's suddenly reminded of a fact he learned yesterday.

"Was I heavy?" he blurts out and Sungjin looks up from his phone,

"Hm?" and expression genuinely confused even though his lips are already stretching to a smile as Jae wants to smack himself, stuttering on his elaboration of,

"L-Like, yesterday, you carried me to the infirmary, or that's what Bri and Pil told me, did you hurt your back? Was I too heavy? Y-You could've asked Bri to help you, or just leave me there." he rambles and Sungjin snorts,

"Leave you there? Knocked out on the ground?" and Jae just lets out a long,

"Uh," and Sungjin laughs.

"I was taking responsibility. Knocked out a poor passerby, least I could do was bring you to the infirmary... And no, you weren't heavy at all. Actually, you should eat more," and Jae wants to say, "take me sometime" and as if reading his mind, Sungjin says,

"Let's go to the convenience store after practice." and Jae's never been so grateful that music is last period. At a loss for words, he just stares at Sungjin, blinking,

"Unless, of course, you're busy,"

"Nope! Not busy, we can go,"

"Okay, good. I'm hungry and you need to eat,"

"I do eat,"

"You sure?"

"Yeah! Are you sure you eat? I never see you in the caf,"

"Oh, you lookin' for me, Jae?" Sungjin jokes, wiggling his eyebrows in amusement and it makes Jae laugh, despite his red cheeks. He doesn't deny it and Sungjin doesn't press further before they resume song discussion.

Jae really doesn't know how he'll deal with working Sungjin for this assignment, but he decides to not worry about that and just appreciate Sungjin humming tunes before they decide on a song. 


	2. excuse my clumsiness while i try to excuse your flirting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> literally a month later and hunter & i are still trynna save this tag oop-
> 
> twitter/instagram/youtube: zenkrcovers

"This is so hard." Jae says, defeated as he slumps in the chair, plucking at his strings with a pout that makes Sungjin smile,

"How are you with composition?"

"What?"

"There's 10 minutes till the bell and we've been song browsing this whole period, so, why not make our own?"

"Our own..." Jae repeats, not really nervous but slightly excited. He writes lyrics on the side, he has a bunch of unfinished notes in his phone for when he gets inspired and needs to just write it down.

"Yeah! We don't have to, just thought I'd offer an alternative. Plus, we'd probably get brownie points with Sir," he points out and Jae nods,

"I'm down," he says and Sungjin looks at him, rather surprised,

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Cool," Sungjin says with an impressed smile and nod.

"Do we have time though?" Jae asks and Sungjin exhales,

"When's this due?"

"Next week, Wednesday,"

"Oh then yeah, we got plenty of time,"

"It's Thursday tomorrow," and Sungjin laughs,

"You say that like we're only allowed to work on it in class," he points out and Jae blinks a few times,

"Oh! Oh right." 

"We can meet up during the week and have the performance ready," and Jae nods,

"Okay," with a smile.

They spend the remaining 10 minutes discussing what kind of genre they'd go for before they exit the practice room, Wonpil and Brian already eyeing Jae with amused grins.

"So!" Brian prompts, swinging a round around Jae's neck as he's packing up his guitar,

"So, what?"

"How'd it go?"

"We didn't get anything done," Jae replies and Wonpil raises his brows,

"Wow, you move quick, where're the hickies?" and Jae smacks his arm,

"Ow, geez, I was kidding!" 

"Jae!" cuts Jae off from yelling at Wonpil, and the trio turn to see Sungjin who's approaching,

"I'm just gonna go to my locker, I'll meet you in the front?" he says and Jae nods,

"Yeah, sure!"

"Alright, see you!" and he's out the music room as the bell rings, saying bye to Mr. Lee, and Brian nudges Jae,

"You two hanging out?"

"Just gonna grab some food,"

"Good luck!"

"With eating?"

"Out with your crush who, up until 2 days ago, you had never said a word to."

"He'll hear you!"

"I'm starting to think he may have his eyes on you too," Brian comments,

"What? No!" and Wonpil chuckles,

"Why not?"

"I've been buds with him for a bit and I've never been invited to go grab food after school," Brian says,

"Well, he's never punched you in the face. It's probably just pity,"

"Pity could've ended after he took you to the infirmary," Wonpil points out,

"Okay, but he's my duet partner for the assignment, so it's nothing," and Brian eyes him,

"You know, it's okay if you read into little things like this. You can get excited about going to get food with your crush." he says, rather comfortingly, adding,

"I'm not saying get your hopes up, I'm just saying, you can enjoy your time with him without constantly putting yourself down with 'oh, it's pity'." and Jae stares at Brian, blinking a few times.

"Wow, you're a really good friend," Jae says, 

"Are you just now realizing that?" Brian says with a cheeky smile before he swings an arm around Jae's neck,

"Crushes are cute, so just enjoy it. Also, can you get me some melon milk while you're there,"

"What, no! Just go yourself-"

"Thanks, JJ!" Brian cuts off, running out of the room and Wonpil quickly follows with a,

"Have fun!" and Jae lets out an amused sigh at Brian's request before walking to the front of the school.

He waits no longer than 5 minutes before Sungjin comes out the main doors, waving at Jae with a smile,

"You good to walk?"

"Yeah!" Jae assures and they set off for the convenience store.

It's not that far from the school, only a 10 minute walk usually, but Jae realizes they're not walking that fast and they end up getting there in almost 20.  Conversation being more important than a quick pace to reach an after school snack. They make instant ramen, Jae making note to grab a melon milk before they leave. They sit at the counter and resume conversation.

"So you ripped your shorts?" Jae asks between laughter and Sungjin nods, laughing himself,

"I squatted too low, but I managed to land the receive,"

"Well, maybe if you dove like a good libero," Jae jokes and Sungjin grabs at his chest, as if offended,

"Ouch. Also, calm down, this was middle school, okay? No need for fancy position titles," 

"Fair," Jae says and smiles as he watches Sungjin take a spoonful of soup,

"No clumsy stories from your past?" Sungjin prompts and Jae scoffs,

"Oh, I just have too many," he replies and Sungjin sits back,

"Care to tell?" with a genuinely interested expression. 

_"Just enjoy it"_ Brian's words echo and Jae smiles before saying,

"Yeah! So, you know how in middle school, there's those gym units where you focus on a certain sport?" and Jae goes on to tell Sungjin about several times his clumsiness got the best of him. Sungjin laughs multiple times, Jae telling the stories with a proud smile for making him laugh, and asks for clarification once or twice, that confirms to Jae he's listening intently. They keep talking about random things - Jae almost surprised at how easy conversation flows with him. They somehow get to the topic of music, and Jae gets to learn even more about Sungjin.

"When did you get into music and stuff?"

"I guess it's always been in my life. Chose the elective for the Hell of it, and here we are," he says with a smile,

"I love to sing - always have, but picking up an instrument was harder than I thought it'd be."

"Really? You don't play like it's hard,"

"You sure you haven't seen me wince at holding barre chords?" Sungjin suspects with a squint and Jae chuckles,

"Don't we all?" and Sungjin smiles,

"Not you, you play effortlessly, it's amazing. I mean, I've only seen you play a few times in class, but even when we were in the practice room earlier..." he trails off, impressed and Jae flushes,

"I-I'm not that great, it's still pretty hard, you know? But thank you! I'll try to use my skills to make our duet decent," he says, embarrassed and Sungjin just smiles,

"Decent? Nah Jae, you're incredible." he says,

"No, nope, I'm okay, mediocre at best-" Jae tries refuting,

"I mean it." Sungjin affirms, sincerely and in a way that makes Jae pause. 

"Thank you." he finally says and Sungjin nods, satisfied.

They talk about music, mainly about their duet and that's when Sungjin remembers they agreed on writing their own song for their performance,

"Oh, so are you sure you're okay with writing our own tune for next week?"

"Yup, I'm all for it if you are."

"Yeah, definitely. You seem excited, do you write?"

"Kinda," Jae says, shyly looking off to the side,

"I have no confidence in my lyrics, so I just call them scribbled nonsense, that's what they really are, at best,"

"Jae," Sungjin says and Jae meets his eyes, his cheeks only growing redder,

"I think it's really cool that you write lyrics. I've never done that seriously, so I'll just try not to be dead weight during this project," he says, with a laugh that almost comforts Jae.

"Let's make a song we're both proud of, hm?" Sungjin prompts with a kind smile and Jae nods, attention going back to his milk that he sips through a straw. Sungjin thinks he looks adorable like that, cheeks pink to match the strawberry milk he's drinking, his lips pursed to comfortably sip through the straw.

They've been done their ramens for nearly an hour, but conversation is still going. Jae loves it - being able to talk to his crush in such depth, to add almost justification and substance to a puppy crush. After Jae's done ranting about his chemistry test he took earlier, they decide to go home. Jae thinks they're going to part ways when they exit the convenience store, so he initiates a,

"Bye, I'll see you tomorrow," and Sungjin smiles at him,

"Are you not gonna let me walk you home?"

"Huh?" Jae lets out, getting flustered,

"I mean, I suggested we get some food, least I could do is walk you home," Sungjin explains, adding,

"Unless, you don't want me to, that's totally cool," 

"No, I just don't wanna inconvenience you," Jae replies,

"Nah, I'm walking the same way!" Sungjin says, and Jae eyes him,

"You don't know where I live," and Sungjin laughs, saying,

"Ah, you caught me," before walking past Jae, hopping down the steps and turning to face him,

"Let's go, Park!" and Jae tries to suppress a smile, fails, and follows down the steps,

"You're Park too!"

"Oh yeah..." Sungjin says, pensively nodding and Jae laughs.

They walk just as slow as they walked to the convenience store.

"Do you like strawberry milk or melon milk better?" Sungjin asks, referring to Brian's drink in Jae's hand and Jae says,

"Oh! This is for Bri, I'm a strawberry milk fan, all the way." he says and Sungjin smiles at his enthusiasm,

"Do you like either flavours?"

"I'm more of a banana milk person," he answers and adds,

"It goes well with strawberry," and Jae tries to not read too much into that trivial comment, just nodding in agreement.

"What other food do you like?" Jae asks, noticing that despite being in the convenience store, surrounded by food, their conversation never travelled to that topic.

They're walking the sidewalks, talking about food and Sungjin tells Jae his favourite snacks and Jae responds with his top desserts. Jae's drawing inspiration from getting to know Sungjin more, finding it easier to write a song that'll suit both of them when he knows more about Sungjin than his name and what he looks like. He usually takes out his phone to write down ideas so he doesn't forget them, but he thinks he won't fail to remember things about Sungjin, because they're about Sungjin. They're close to Jae's house when they notice droplets spotting the sidewalk, 

"Oh," Sungjin says, looking up at the sky and Jae follows his gaze,

"It's just spitting, we should be fine," and as if to spite his comment, the rain starts coming down hard. They look at each other and Jae laughs at Sungjin's offended expression,

"Looks like the clouds wanted to prove you wrong," Jae comments as Sungjin quickly slips off his hoodie, holding it above Jae as he scoffs and says,

"Just run, Jae," and he listens, smiling as they run through the rain. Jae gains inspiration from the raindrops that fall around everywhere but his immediate surroudings because of Sungjin's gesture.  

Jae remains relatively dry, Sungjin making sure of it as his head and hoodie get soaked. They get to Jae's house, grateful for the portico over his front porch and Sungjin shakes his head, spraying water everywhere.

"You're all soaked!" Jae says, and Sungjin looks down,

"Really? Didn't notice," and that makes Jae laugh.

"You could've shielded both of us,"

"And you could've ran faster with those long legs of yours, but what's done is done,"

"I was running at your pace, what do you mean?!" and they laugh.

"Thanks for walking me home," Jae says,

"No problem, it was a fun afternoon," 

"What the Hell are you doing?" and Sungjin pauses, soaked hoodie in hand and getting ready to put it on,

"Hm?"

"That hoodie is soaked! You're gonna get sick,"

"I will not, and I need the hood!" and Jae rolls his eyes before grabbing the hoodie despite Sungjin's protest,

"I'll dry this so you," and Jae goes inside his house for a second, quickly coming back out without Sungjin's hoodie but a small towel and umbrella.

"My sweater..." Sungjin whispers, sadly and longingly, and with a cute pout that makes Jae's heart flutter,

"Take this! It's dry and will effectively keep you dry," he says, holding out his umbrella and Sungjin takes it,

"Thank you," he says and starts to roughly dry his hair. After he's done and drier, he goes to leave but then he quickly turns back to Jae,

"Oh! Your number," and he hands Jae his phone, which Jae takes after almost fumbling with it, and enters his number.

"I'll text you later,"

"Okay, about the duet?" Jae asks as Sungjin exits his porch and opens the umbrella. He shows him a sweet smile,

"Or just to talk," he answers and Jae replies with,

"Oh! O-Okay, right, yup, cool!" and closes his eyes in embarrassment as Sungjin laughs, waving at him as he walks away. 

Jae goes back into his house and throws Sungjin's sweater into the dryer with a dryer sheet, and realizes this is the second piece of Sungjjin's clothing he's washed and he'll have to return it tomorrow. He makes a note to just return it to him during music to avoid further suspicion from Sungjin's gym mates. 

After watching some TV and doing some homework in the living room, he remembers the initial idea for lyrics and goes up to his room and sits at his desk, quickly taking out one of the various notebooks he writes in. He's glad his desk is positioned in front of the window because the raindrops that're still hitting the glass and rolling down cause lyrics to pop up in his head. He writes and hums a melody, playing it on the guitar and scrambling to get it recorded on his phone so he doesn't forget it.

**jaepark: pil!**

**brikang: where's my melon milk**

**jaepark: come pick it up**

**jaepark: PIL**

**wonpillie: yes?**

**wonpillie: HOW WAS YOUR DATE HEH**

**jaepark: it wasn't a date**

**jaepark: can you learn this on the piano for me??**

**jaepark: 1 Audio File**

**wonpillie: oho?**

**brikang: YO THIS IS SO PRETTY**

**brikang: but LOL wtf are your adlibs in the beginning**

**jaepark: stfu i was just humming a melody ok**

As he's bickering with Brian about his melon milk, Jae gets a text from an unsaved number

**Unknown: hey jae!**

**Jae: hi**

**Unknown: it's sungjin btw**

**Jae: oh ok, i assumed**

**Sungjin: tsk tsk, never good to assume**

**Jae: fine, proof of identification please**

Jae jokes, but nearly whips his phone across the room when another message dings in,

**Sungjin: Attachment: 1 Image**

He contemplates saving the selfie Sungjin sends, he looks comfortable and the cute smile makes Jae conclude there's no harm in saving it to his camera roll.

**Jae: ok thank you**

**Sungjin: your turn**

**Jae: LOL what**

**Jae: i gave you my number!**

**Sungjin: that would be me assuming jae didn't give me the wrong number**

**Jae: fine**

Jae smiles as he takes a quick selfie - multiple because he's stressing about sending a picture to his crush. He wishes the lighting was better, he can't seem to find a satisfiable angle, and he swears to himself that he usually doesn't look this ugly.

**Jae: Attachment: 1 Image**

**Sungjin: lol cute**

Jae's eyes go wide at that word and he calls himself lame for blushing,

**Sungjin: is that a teddy bear in the back?**

_Oh._ Jae thinks, realizing the comment wasn't about him, but about the bear,

**Jae: mhm!**

**Jae: also, why're you zooming in on my photo, weirdo**

**Sungjin: hey, at least i didn't save it**

And Jae suddenly feels called out when Sungjin messages again,

**Sungjin: or did i?** with a pensive emoji that makes Jae smile.

**Jae: LOL guess i'll never know**

**Sungjin: mwuahaha**

**Sungjin: lol wyd rn? :]**

**Jae: trying to convince wonpil to learn a progression for our song**

**Sungjin: oh what, you already started working on it??**

**Jae: mhm**

**Jae: it's not that good tho lol**

**Sungjin: lemme hear!**

**Sungjin: also, we don't need wonpil, he has his own duet to worry about**

**Jae: it sounds okay on the guitar, but i really think it would suit piano**

**Sungjin: if you think so, then let's not settle for guitar**

**Jae: but we're guitarists-**

**Sungjin: limiting yourself, jae? tsk tsk**

**Jae: stop tsk-ing me LOL**

**Sungjin: LOL my bad**

**Sungjin: but, i'll play for our song**

**Jae: :o**

**Jae: you play piano?!**

**Sungjin: not as well as wonpil, but i think i'll suffice**

**Sungjin: hopefully LOL**

Jae starts to smile at the thought of seeing Sungjin play the piano. He's always found the instrument so beautiful, it had a certain grace to it, and finding out his crush plays such an instrument is exciting to him.

**Jae: okay, wonderful!**

**Jae: didn't know you played piano**

**Sungjin: didn't know you were a genius who could write a song that quick**

**Jae: pfftt 'genius' i wish**

**Jae: and it's not done yet... it kinda sucks**

**Sungjin: lemme hear**

**Jae: lol no**

**Sungjin: ?? i'm your partner-**

**Jae: ok but it's not our confirmed song yet**

**Sungjin: how are we gonna confirm if i never hear it**

**Jae: trust me? :D**

**Sungjin: well then, i gotta start learning the piano chords so**

**Jae: i'll just transcribe it for you**

**Sungjin: JAE!** he sends with multiple laughing emojis,

**Jae: ok fine but pls don't reply i get Anxious sharing things**

**Sungjin: wha-**

**Sungjin: don't avoid me JJ~**

**Jae: whomst've???**

**Sungjin: lol that's my nickname for you now! :D**

**Sungjin: if that's okay, of course**

Jae stares at the simple nickname - a nickname nonetheless - with a small smile as he types

**Jae: yes :]**

**Sungjin: ok good, now send the audio**

**Jae: UGH fine** and he reluctantly sends the audio he sent Brian and Wonpil, going back to Instagram to avoid seeing if Sungjin's typing or not. 

**brikang: EXCUSE ME, MY MILK**

**jaepark: stfu i'm teXTING HIM**

**wonpillie: OH?? YOU GOT HIS NUMBER?**

**jaepark: he asked for mine* he corrects,**

**brikang: wow omg when's the wedding**

**jaepark: LOL ihy, i'm drinking your milk**

**brikang: might as well since you're not delivering it**

**jaepark: I'LL BRING IT TOMORROW SMH**

**brikang: really? :D yaaaay**

**wonpillie: pause, so y'all are messaging rn?**

**jaepark: mhm**

**jaepark: also, he said he'll play the piano so nvm pil lol**

**wonpillie: oh okay. good, cause i doubt sir would let us 3 perform for the duets**

**jaepark: you right.**

**brikang: pause, sungjin plays piano??  
**

**jaepark: IKR THAT'S WHAT I SAID-**

A message dings in from Sungjin and Jae doesn't want to check it, slightly worried he won't like the chord progression, will think the melody Jae casually hummed is common or just bad, and then Jae remembers his adlibs in the beginning and he's contemplating just not reading the message because maybe that would be better for his heart. His curiosity outweighs his cowardice, and so he checks their conversation. 

**Sungjin: oh wow  
**

**Sungjin: jae, you're incredible Jae smiles at that message,  
**

**Sungjin: also, i think this really suits your voice, your adlibs in the beginning fit so perfectly  
**

**Sungjin: like, it's a very 'you' song. it's really beautiful, damn.  
**

**Jae: gah no my adlibs were weird but uh thank you :']  
**

**Jae: it's our song, btw ;D  
**

**Sungjin: our song :] i like that lol  
**

**Jae: well i sure hope so cause we gotta finish this and perform it next week heh  
**

**Sungjin: oop you right LOL  
**

**Sungjin: but damn, jae, you're amazing!**

**Sungjin: how did you write that so quickly?**

Jae immediately types their time together gave inspiration but quickly deletes it, instead sending

**Jae: the rain!**

**Sungjin: it wrote it for you?  
**

**Jae: LOL no, it gave me inspiration so, that came to mind  
**

**Sungjin: damn, that's impressive. I'll try learning this asap so we can add a set melody soon  
**

**Jae: ok ok!** and Jae wonders if they're conversation ends there for the night, but he doesn't really want it to. So, he prompts,

**Jae: btw, wyd rn? :]  
**

**Sungjin: learning! lol  
**

**Jae: you don't have homework? ;o  
**

**Sungjin: oh i do but this takes priority  
**

**Sungjin: OH YEAH  
**

**Sungjin: thank you for the umbrella. i got home safely lol  
**

**Jae: of course, i wasn't gonna let you go home soaked  
**

**Sungjin: i was already soaked so i could've taken my sweater  
**

**Jae: nO cause you would've put it on  
**

**Jae: and you weren't as soaked as your sweater ok  
**

**Sungjin: fine, i'll give you this one  
**

**Jae: ?? I'M RIGHT WDYM  
**

**Sungjin: LOL that's why i'm giving you it!  
**

****J** ae: but that implies you're right and you're just pitying me!  
**

**Sungjin: fiNE I'LL TAKE IT BACK  
**

**Jae: NO IT'S MINE** and Jae giggles at his phone, once again realizing how much he likes talking to Sungjin.

 

"JJ!" 

It's the next day at school, and Jae's at his locker as per his usual morning routine, and he turns to see Sungjin, walking towards him. He likes the way Sungjin says the nickname, even more than he likes the way it looks in their text thread.

"Thank you," he says, handing him his umbrella, and Jae laughs, takes it and puts it in his locker,

"And here," Jae says, holding Sungjin's sweater and the boy takes it.

"This is the second article of clothing you've returned to me,"

"Well, stop leaving them in my possession," Jae jokes and Sungjin laughs,

"You took this one and retreated into your house!" and they laugh.

"Oh, also," Sungjin says before reaching into his bag, and pulling out a carton of strawberry milk and Jae's eyes widen slightly in excitement,

"This is thank you for the umbrella. And for already writing that amazing song," and Jae takes it and shows Sungjin a smile that makes his heart flutter, just slightly.

"Thank you!" and his excitement is evident in his voice, smile and the way he holds it close,

"I brought Bri's melon milk today and I was craving some of this," 

"You still didn't give it to him?"

"Nope. He didn't wanna walk over, and I wasn't about to deliver it with no umbrella," he jokes and Sungjin nudges him lightly as they laugh, walking down the hall together,

"Should've texted me you needed it back, then," he replies and Jae shakes his head.

"Here, lemme hold that for you," Sungjin offers, referring to Jae's binders,

"So you can drink the milk," and he grabs the stuff in Jae's hands so he can stop struggling with the carton and straw,

"Oh," Jae says accompanied with a shy,

"Thank you," and he sips on the milk to cool his cheeks that're growing warm.

Sungjin ends up walking Jae to his first period class and he says a,

"See you in music!" before walking away and back to the first floor where he has gym. Jae waves with a sweet smile and says,

"See you! Have fun in gym," and Sungjin smiles at that,

"Will do." and Jae once again can't wait for music.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Hello, my name is Zen! :]  
> I love Park Bros lol 
> 
> twitter/instagram/youtube: zenkrcovers


	3. pardon? you what?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we love updating once a month lol  
> ☾ social medias ☾   
> instagram: @zenlikestosing  
> twitter: @zenlikestosing  
> kakaotalk: zenaya  
> please feel free to contact me on any of those platforms! ^_^

"Here, loser," Jae says, tossing Brian his melon milk when he walks into music class. The rest of the school day flew by, or at least it did to Jae who was completely distracted, just excited to see Sungjin again.

"Thank you," Brian sings with a cheeky smile,

"So, you have yet to tell us about yesterday," Wonpil says, nudging Jae and he fails at suppressing a smile, getting giddy at just the thought of the time he shared with Sungjin. Sungjin walks in class, spotting Jae and smiling at him,

"There's nothing to tell," Jae says and Brian laughs,

"You're just worried he'll hear,"

"Well, duh!"

"C'mon, he's like across the class, he's not gonna hear,"

"Why are you guys so curious?"

"'Cause you're interacting with your crush for once," Wonpil replies and Brian nods, sipping his melon milk,

"And we were asking you in the group chat yesterday, but you just disappeared,"

"Oh, 'cause we started texting," Jae says, giggling and Wonpil and Brian laugh, amused at the way Jae grabs his cheeks as he starts to blush,

"He's a lot nicer than I thought,"

"Did you think he was rude?" Wonpil asks,

"They started talking 'cause he punched Jae in the face," Brian points out and Wonpil nods with an "oh yeah" 

"Jae!" and that quickly hushes their conversation and they look up to see Sungjin walking toward their side of the class,

"Yeah?" and he sits up,

"Did you find anything in the pocket of my hoodie?" 

"Oh, no," Jae says,

"Ah, okay,"

"You should've texted me, I could've gone home during lunch to check,"

"Nah, it was nothing important, it probably fell out when we were running anyway,"

"Oh okay,"

"Sungjin!" Junhyeok calls and Sungjin looks at the guys for a quick bye, showing a small smile to Jae before jogging to Junhyeok who needed help untangling a patch cable and Dowoon was adjusting his ride cymbal so he didn't want to help.

"Dude, he's totally into you," Brian says once Sungjin's far enough and focused on helping,

"He is not!"

"He came over to talk to you about nothing, he probably just wanted to be near you,"

"Stop, he wouldn't, plus he had a genuine question!"

"And if Junhyeok didn't call him over that, what would y'all have talked about?" Wonpil points out,

"We're barely friends, y'all are just extra," Jae says,

"Oh really? Why was his sweater in your possession then?" and Jae rolls his eyes, knowing from his friends amused expressions that whatever reason he gives, they'll still nudge him and wiggle their eyebrows as if hinting to something that's supposedly going on between him and Sungjin. 

Mr. Lee walks in shortly after, takes a quick attendance then allows the class to split off for more practice. Jae and Sungjin take their usual practice room and Sungjin sits at the keyboard, eyes focused on the keys as he plays what he's practiced.

"You already learned it?" Jae asks, almost amazed,

"Told you I would, didn't I?" Sungjin says, smiling as he looks at Jae,

"Geez, a pianist," Jae muses and they laugh.

"Should we make it solely piano?"

"You don't wanna play guitar?" and Jae shakes his head, 

"I can play simple percussion if anything, but I really like the piano," 

"We will do whatever the composer decides," Sungjin says and Jae smiles,

"We can work on the melody today, maybe lyrics and then just keep practicing till the performance,"

"Sounds like a plan." Sungjin agrees and he proceeds to record the progression on the keyboard so that he doesn't have to keep playing it over and over again. 

The progession Jae made repeats in the small practice room as they're on the floor, sitting across from each other, cross legged and exchanging melody ideas. Jae loves the way Sungjin hums and does a little shake of his head when he sings a note that doesn't fit the key, he finds it adorable. Sungjin likes the way Jae nods to the rhythm and kind of pouts when he hums a melody. Sungjin brings up the adlibs from the original recording and Jae shakes his head, laughing. Sungjin's voice cracks while figuring out what they've tentatively labelled the 'pre-chorus' and they laugh.

"It's not that high!"

"Says you, you're claiming the melody an octave lower!"

"Fine, fine, we'll switch,"

"No. Now my pride is hurt, I can do it," Sungjin says and proceeds to sing the melody again. Jae's watching him with his chin in the palm of his hand, and a smile slowly forms,

"Why're you smiling like that?" Sungjin asks, eyes narrowed is suspicion, but smiling himself,

"How can you hit that note while smiling?" Jae asks,

"I can't look like I'm taking it seriously because if my voice cracks then it's just 10 times more embarrassing," he admits and it makes Jae laugh,

"But you're hitting it!"

"Fluke,"

"Ability," Jae corrects, and Sungjin rolls his eyes with a smile.

They end up taking a break on melody writing, talking about what the lyrics could be,

"Oh, right I meant to ask, how's your English?"

"I mean, I'm getting like an 87, but Mr. Park is kinda harsh-"

"Not your grade," Jae says, laughing,

"Like, would you be comfortable singing in English?"

"Wow, first piano and now another language?" Sungjin jokes and Jae immediately tries to take his question back,

"I was kidding," he assures,

"I'm down to sing in English. Probably won't be much help in the writing process though,"

"Mr. 87 in English won't help me write? Tsk tsk,"

"Hey, that's my thing," Sungjin says, nudging Jae lightly with his elbow, as they're now beside each other, earlier Sungjin shuffled over to watch Jae write in his notebook.

"My turn to tsk," Jae replies with a cute smile that Sungjin's eyes linger on.

"Okay Mr. studied in L.A, I'm sure I can help you loads with the English," and they laugh again.

"You got some ideas already?"

"Mhm," Jae nods,

"Then yeah, I can sing in English... But I feel bad, you're doing like everything,"

"I'm not playing the piano," he says with a smile, shaking his shoulders and leaning in out of habit when he talks to Brian and Wonpil. Sungjin smiles at the action,

"So, what's the theme of the lyrics?"

"Raindrops!"

"Oh, nice. Someone was inspired yesterday,"

"Mhm,"

"Lemme see," and Sungjin leans into Jae's side, peering at the lyrics and furrowing his brows to read the English. Jae tenses at the sudden proximity but the other doesn't seem bothered by it, he whispers the lyrics and his pronunciation is a lot better than Jae was expecting.

"Oho," he says, impressed and turns to look at Jae, his face a lot closer than Jae's used to handling.

"I like that line a lot, _'and when that river runs I sink so deep in its love_ ',"

"Thank you," Jae says, and Sungjin smiles,

"I mean it, JJ, you're incredible," and he gets up, Jae blushing obviously and Sungjin smiles to himself at it.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom,"

"O-Okay," Jae says, and Sungjin exits the practice room and as soon as the door closes, Jae thrashes on the ground, slapping his cheeks and smiling like a mad man. He's too busy freaking out to realize Sungjin was peeking in from the window of the door, and upon seeing Jae's actions, throws his head back in laughter and eventually makes his way to Mr. Lee to ask to go to the bathroom.

_Cute._ Sungjin thinks to himself as he walks the halls, smiling to himself and soon realizing he probably looks like Jae - borderline crazy, but happy.

"Dude, what did you guys do?" Brian says, walking into the practice room and Jae's still on the floor, cupping his cheeks in hopes they lose their pink tint.

"What're you talking about?"

"Pil and I were practicing out there and Sungjin walked outta here with the most satisfied smile," he eyes Jae,

"Ew, what the Hell did you guys do in here-"

"Shut up, we didn't do anything, we practiced,"

"Practice is a broad term. What did you practice, Jae?" Brian jokes, wiggling his eyebrows and laughing when Jae smacks his leg,

"Our song,"

"Oh, our? A collective-"

"You're so annoying, get out, he'll be back soon,"

"Oho, you want privacy?" he keeps joking and Jae eventually cracks a smile as he tries to push Brian out but refusing to get up from the floor because he's comfortable.

"Pil! Collect your partner!" Jae yells, laughing as Brian puts his hands up in surrender,

"Woah, no need to call in the big guns," he says, sarcasm in his voice and his feigned expression of fear and Jae laughs. 

"I'm serious, Jae, I think he's interested in you too,"

"Mkay, get out," Jae gets up and starts pushing Brian towards the door and the other gasps,

"Did you just admit the possibility of-"

"I know whatever I say, you're just gonna keep being annoying so," and Brian finally exits the practice room.

Jae goes back to trying to write lyrics, when the door opens again,

"All I'm saying is that he seems giddy-"

"Out!" Jae doesn't even bother looking up from his notebook when the door closes, only to open again with a,

"But don't you think so too, like-"

"Bri! Stop!" and the door closes once again.

It opens and before Brian can say anything, Jae just says,

"You're so annoying, get out-" and looks up to see Sungjin with an amused expression, hands up as if guilty of something,

"Was just gonna work on this performance, but I guess not," and he motions to exit the room again,

"No, don't! Sorry," Jae says, and Sungjin laughs as he walks closer,

"Was someone bothering you? Who do I needa beat up?" Sungjin jokes, pretending to throw punches and Jae giggles,

"Oh, whatta hero,"

"Only for the prince in danger," he replies with a playful wink and Jae just smiles it.

"Hey," 

"Hm?"

"Are you busy this weekend?" Jae looks up,

"Uh, nope, I don't think so, why?"

"Should we meet up and practice?"

"Yeah, sure, that sounds like a good idea. Do you wanna come over?" Jae doesn't know why he extended that offer, but Sungjin's nod and smile doesn't allow him to regret it,

"Okay, sounds like a plan."

"For now, help me finalize these melodies," Jae says, patting the spot on the floor beside him and Sungjin sits down promptly, shuffling closer to him and leaning close, mumbling a "lemme see." 

The period ends with the duo getting the chorus down, and Sungjin's humming it as he exits the practice room,

"JJ," and Jae sees Brian and Wonpil's reaction to that nickname in the corner of his eye,

"I'll talk to you later," he says with a smile and Jae nods and Sungjin exits the classroom as the bell rings. Once he's out the door,

"JJ, huh?" Brian says and Wonpil's snickering,

"Yes." is all Jae says and they begin walking to Brian's hall, saying bye to their teacher. 

 

**Sungjin: JJ!**

Jae's chilling on his bed, notepad in his lap as he's editing a draft of lyrics he's rather satisfied with when his phone goes off.

**Jae: Sungjin!**

**Sungjin: lol wyd??**

**Jae: writing :]**

**Sungjin: perfect, Imma call you**

and before Jae can type a response, he's receiving an incoming FaceTime call, and he scrambles to look decent before he answers and Sungjin's face fills the screen.

"Yo!" Sungjin greets and looks at his screen before smiling,

"Why're you pouting like that?"

"Cause I look like trash, couldn't this just be an audio call?"

"Nah, and hush, you don't look like trash,"

"Tsk tsk, bad liar," Jae says,

"You stole my tsk tsk," Sungjin says, laughing and Jae's smile is hidden by his hoodie, strings fully drawn in attempt to cover his face,

"And duh it was bad, 'cause I wasn't lying."

Jae watches as Sungjin says he has something to show him, the screen showing parts of Sungjin's room as he goes to the corner with his instruments, placing the phone on the keyboard stand, Jae presumes,

"Okay, so you said you liked the pure piano, yeah?"

"Mhm,"

"So, I was thinking about what percussion we could use 'cause, like you said, it's a bit empty rhythmically,"

"I did not say that," Jae says, laughing,

"You said something like that,"

"I offered to play the triangle for percussion," and Sungjin laughs,

"See, close enough!" and Jae watches as he sits down on a box drum, 

"If we use the cajon, I think it'd sound nice. Nothing complex, just a," and he plays out a rhythm,

"Oh, wait I forgot," and Sungjin gets up, and presses a button on his keyboard, Jae smiling at the image of Sungjin slightly cross-eyed and closer to the camera.

Their chord progression plays and Sungjin demonstrates what the rhythm sounds like with the piano and Jae smiles and is about to comment on it when Sungjin leans too far back and falls off the cajon. Jae lets out a bark of a laugh, throwing his head back as Sungjin scrambles up from the ground, walking to his phone,

"That was embarrassing," he says as Jae's still laughing,

"Okay, you can stop now, I get it,"

"That was hilarious," Jae says, between laughter, and he doesn't show any sign of stopping soon,

"Why were you sitting like that!" he says, referring to the way Sungjin lifted the front of the cajon off the floor, 

"For the acoustics!" he reasons, laughing as Jae starts laughing harder and he lets out a snort and immediately stops, freezing and just staring at the camera and Sungjin smiles,

"Did you just snort?"

"No,"

"Well, it's either you snorted or farted," and Sungjin's laughing as Jae pouts,

"That was embarrassing,"

"Cute," he says and Jae doesn't believe that's what he actually said, blaming it on a skip in the connection,

"So! Is that okay, do you think you'd be able to play that?"

"Yes. I'm sure I'd get it down eventually,"

"When we meet up this weekend, I'll show you,"

"But I don't own one of those,"

"So, I'll just bring this one, it's cool,"

"You sure?"

"Mhm,"

"Okay," Jae says with a smile,

"Okay, now for the real reason I called you!" Sungjin announces, taking his phone and plopping on to what Jae assumes is his bed. 

"Which is?" he asks, slightly nervous which even he admits is uncalled for.

"How are you?" he says, a small smile on his face as he looks into the camera,

"W-What?" Jae's doubting he heard correctly.

"You said the real reason-"

"Yeah, to talk to you," Sungjin replies, as if it should've been obvious. Jae stares at his phone in suspicion before he mentally shrugs,

"I'm good," he says, a smile creeping as he nods and Sungjin smiles too,

"Yeah? Tell me about it," and he does.

Their conversation, as smooth as their previous ones, continues on with topics jumping, intervals of laughter and Jae wonders why Sungjin called him. Why even after Sungjin finished showing him the rhythm part, they stayed on call. He's not complaining, just wary because he doesn't want to give himself false hope over casual, platonic conversation.

"Hey,"

"Hm?"

"I like talking to you," Sungjin says as their laughter from another one of Jae's clumsy stories from elementary. It catches the other off guard and a small,

"Huh," escapes his lips and Sungjin smiles, looking away from the camera,

"Sorry, that was weird, came outta no where," and he scratches his nape, explaining,

"It's just weird that we've never talked up until earlier this week, so yeah, just... Just stated my observation out loud, my bad,"

"Am I being too forward?" he says with a nervous laugh and he wants to smack himself for rambling.

"I like talking to you too," is what Jae replies, accompanied by a sincere smile,

"Okay. If you don't, you can hang up at any time," Sungjin jokes and Jae says cutely,

"Then this call will never end!" and it makes Sungjin smile.

 

 

The weekend comes quickly, and Jae's freaking out about having Sungjin over, telling his mom and sister that they absolutely cannot embarrass him in front of this person.

"Why not?" his older sister asks,

"You're using my piano, I should get at least 3 jokes as collateral,"

"He won't break it, why do you need collateral?"

"Cause I'm your sister," she says and ruffles his hair,

"Good luck with your crush, loser,"

"Not so loud!"

"He's not here!" she says, arms flailing and the doorbell goes off. She rolls her eyes as Jae sticks his tongue out,

"If he heard you through the door, it's not my fault you have a stalker listening with his ear pressed against it,"

"Okay, shoo!" he says and she says,

"No, I needa see if he's cute then I'll go upstairs."

"Ugh, you're so annoying!"

"I'm just looking out for my little brother. Now go answer the door," and he shuffles over and opens it, his sister lingering near the staircase that's visible in the foyer.

"Hey," Sungjin greets and Jae smiles,

"Hi!" and he opens the door wider so Sungjin can enter, and as he's slipping off his shoes he says,

"I brought your family some treats,"

"Oh, what," Jae accepts the box of traditional sweets,

"Couldn't come empty handed," he says and then he sees his sister and he gives a bow,

"Hello," he greets and she smiles and says,

"Hi,"

"Oh, that's my sister," Jae clarifies

"Hi, I'm Sungjin from Jae's music class," he introduces and she just says a,

"Cool," and she's going up the stairs, making eyecontact with Jae as Sungjin's fixing his shoes and mouths an 'approved' with a thumbs-up. 

"Does she not want any rice cakes?" he asks, almost concerned he made the wrong choice of treats and Jae assures him that that wasn't the case and that she'll probably eat them while they're in the basement. He offers Sungjin some water which he accepts then they make their way down the stairs.

"So, welcome," Jae says, arms spread as Sungjin scans the clean basement,

"You practice here?" he asks,

"Oh no, the piano's just down here,"

"So you play too?"

"No, my sister," 

"Oh. You sure you don't play?" he says as he's sitting on the bench,

"I tried taking lessons but I sucked so bad so my parents switched me to guitar and the rest is history," he says and Sungjin laughs before scooting over and patting the space beside him on the bench.

"C'mere,"

"Nope, I can't play,"

"Don't you wanna be able to play the song you wrote?" 

"But you already know it,"

"C'mon JJ!" and Jae sighs with a smile before he makes his way beside Sungjin. He sits down and Sungjin plays the familiar chord progression and makes Jae put his hands on the keys, even amidst the protest, they're both smiling as Sungjin shows him how to play the chords. They sing along, Jae containing his freak out as they continuously brush hands and Sungjin doesn't seem to mind.

"Oh, right! I gotta teach you the rhythm," and with that, Sungjin gets up. He unzips the case and takes out the cajon, sitting on it and playing out a random riff before getting up and telling Jae to sit down. 

"I won't fall like you did," Jae declares as he's sitting and Sungjin narrows his eyes,

"Funny," he says,

"Yeah, it was," he replies and Sungjin pretends to kick the cajon. 

Sungjin tries explaining the rhythm, playing an example on the coffee table but Jae struggles a bit with the syncapation. Jae's getting frustrated and Sungjin's running out of ways to explain a, frankly, simple beat. He goes behind Jae,

"Do you mind if I, uh..."

"Huh? Oh!" Jae realizes Sungjin's arms are spread,

"G-Go ahead," he says and he hopes Sungin can't see his red cheeks as he wraps his arms around him and grabs his hands,

"Like this," he says and plays the rhythm, with Jae's hands but he's careful not to hit hard, the cajon not even making a sound. 

"Oh, o-okay," Jae says and Sungjin stays behind him as Jae plays it out. He gets it right at the second try and Sungjin high fives him with an adorable smile before they get to practicing.

Soon they're doing multiple run-throughs and Jae loves the way Sungjin sings, he can tell he's practiced the lyrics. Sungjin watches with a smile as Jae sings with his eyes closed, focusing on playing the beat and singing at the same time. Sungjin didn't realize he could love a self composed duet so much.

They take breaks in between, Jae muting his phone that's going off and tossing it on the couch because he notices Sungjin's barely checked his phone since he got there. Didn't even ask for the WiFi and that makes Jae smile internally, letting himself enjoy Sungjin's undivided attention. 

After what's reaching 3 hours, Sungjin says he should get back for dinner and Jae doesn't have a good enough excuse for him to stay, so they're saying goodbye at the door.

"Oh, wait!" Jae exclaims and Sungjin looks startled,

"What?" 

"I forgot to give you something, hold this," and hurriedly passes Sungjin his phone, waterbottle and music sheets where he wrote the rhythm just in case he forgets, to which Sungjin said to just call him and he'd be glad to show him again.

"I totally forgot to give it to you when you got here," Jae explains from the kitchen and Sungjin just smiles to himself before Jae's phone buzzes.

**jae's whipped for sungjin: (wonpillie): did jae pass out, i'm trynna make PLANS**

and Sungjin doesn't read the rest of the notifications, even as Jae's phone continues buzzing. He swiftly looks at the phone one more time just to confirm he read correctlyand contains his laughter at the group chat name. He muses a smile as Jae returns, holding banana milk and hands it to Sungjin,

"Here," he offers and they switch items,

"Thank you," Sungjin says, poking the straw in and taking a sip,

"Thanks for having me today,"

"Thank you for coming! And for teaching me the rhythm," and they laugh, Sungjin slips on his shoes and he's halfway out the door when he says.

"Oh, by the way,"

"Hm?"

"Your phone was going off, Wonpil messaged and I think Brian too,"

"Oh, that's okay, I'll reply and stuff later,"

"Okay," Sungjin says, smiling and Jae just smiles along. Sungjin waves as he walks out the door and Jae locks it behind him, doing a little dance after having another hang out with Sungjin. 

He's dancing and his sister laughs at him from the top of the stairs before Jae checks his phone and he freezes. His eyes go wide as he reads the notifications on his phone,

"Hey, what's wrong, you okay?" his sister asks, and Jae looks up at her,

"Nope." he whispers,

"Oh my God, it's over, I'll never see Sungjin again," he says,

"What the Hell are you talking about?"

"Oh my God, he saw my phone, oh my God, he read the notification, that's probably why he was smiling, he didn't say talk to me later, this is it-" he rambles and his sister walks down the stares and grabs his phone, Jae letting her as he just stares at the kitchen counter. She starts laughing,

"Why would you name your group chat that?"

"I didn't! Wonpil did!" he burries his head into his arms,

"I thought Sungjin meant Wonpil texted! Not in the stupid Instagram chat," and she laughs harder,

"This is not funny,"

"It kinda is," and he just groans, snatching his phone back and going upstairs to his room.

**jaepark: I  
**

**wonpillie: oh there he is!  
**

**brikang: dude where were you  
**

**jaepark: am going to personally murder both of you.  
**

**wonpillie: oh  
**

**brikang: what did we do tho  
**

**jaepark: MESSAGE IN THIS STUPID CHAT AND NOW SUNGJIN KNOWS IT EXISTS  
**

**brikang: oh....  
**

**wonpillie: you wERE WITH SUNGJIN?  
**

**jaepark: you're first, pil... you're first.**

Jae thrashes in his bed and he can hear his sister laughing as she goes to her room as he continues to groan and yell. His phone buzzes and he's about to go off in the group chat again when he pauses,

**Sungjin: thanks for having me over  
**

**Sungjin: did you reply to wonpil and brian yet? :P**

and Jae can't find the courage to respond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ☾ social medias ☾   
> instagram: @zenlikestosing  
> twitter: @zenlikestosing  
> kakaotalk: zenaya  
> please feel free to contact me on any of those platforms! ^_^


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